Anywhere But Here
by Reginald Kastle
Summary: A collection of old and new post canon sharkbait fics as I slowly move them off tumblr. Slightly suggestive themes at times, nothing explicit. K-T
1. Anywhere But Here

Some part of Rio realizes that miracles are real.

She thought it was never possible, and was internally convinced that the day that she'd finally have to push aside her biases and finally pull Ryouga down from his roof with the intent of abiding by her duties as Student Disciplinary Officer and drag him into detention for skipping class would be soon; and it would have were it not for the miracle placed before her.

She wants to ask; _Ryouga, why did you actually turn up to class today?_ But she doesn't want to push it; she's just so glad that he's actually turned up to class for once in the entire time she's been back in school that she's hesitant to call him out on the earphones hanging very visibly from his ears.

She tries, but it gets too much and with a hesitant pout she yanks the earphones from his ear. "Hey!" he hisses as the earphones collide with the desk, furious beat still echoing through the dormant device.

"Are you kidding me, Ryouga?" she replies, unable to comprehend the words that are sprouting from his mouth. "If you're just going to listen to music, then why did you even bother turning up to class?"

The only reply she receives is in a halfhearted shrug, and in the end, what else does she expect? Her resounding glare is enough for Ryouga to finally flick his phone out to remove the source of the music still blaring from his earphones, scowl set in bitter anger the entire time. The lecture is gone from both their minds when she notices the scowl slowly disappear from his mouth, anger and bitterness washing completely from his face, only to be replaced with a tiny coy smile that she hasn't seen in so long-

_Is he seriously texting right in front of her?_

A part of her knows that she should stop him; it's not like he's ever going to actually pay attention in class but it's her duty and well, yeah she may be a little bit over having to copy down notes and just having them taken from her as soon as she gets home, and what's even so good about that rooftop anyway? Curiosity as to what's even going on with her brother who _never_ smiles but has this coy smirk playing on his lips and _isn't even bothering to hide it_ has Rio peering over his shoulder; initially it begins with sly glances from her peripherals, escalating to visibly leaning over his shoulder to view the ever increasing messages, less to Ryouga's knowledge.

_Hey, feeling any better yet?_

_No, can't stop coughing and shivering, feel terrible :( how's school? Did you actually turn up to class today?_

Rio's eyebrow raises before she can stop it; she wasn't aware that Yuma had been sick, let alone for a period of time. She rattles her brain for any indication from Kotori that she'd heard anything about it, only to come up short; she then continues to try and find some sort of indication that Ryouga would know but Kotori won't, only to remember that last night, Ryouga disappeared from the house for a few hours…

_Yeah, yeah I actually turned up. Nothing really to do on the rooftop when there's nothing to look at ;) so, no to the duel this afternoon? Little disappointed that I can't beat your ass again._

If Rio could raise her eyebrow any further, it was stretching it because _really Ryouga, didn't you say you were going to take me to the mall this afternoon_? And sure, if that was the worst of the issues that she'd have to deal with, it would be fine, she could just take Kotori, right?

Her eyes have darted away instinctively in the replacement of her pout along her cheeks, only to have to grip at the desk with every inch of her being to stop herself from tumbling from the chair, shock engraving onto every feature in her body.

_Well, you know you still could beat some ass if you wanted_

_Get lost, I'm not getting sick_

_Well, you know hands don't use any bodily fluids ;)_

She can't look anymore, even if she wanted to; her head falls into her hands on the desk, memory of the words scarred into her head and there are some things in life that she just _does not _ need to know and on that list is _definitely _Ryouga's sex habits, let alone Ryouga's sex habits with _Yuma_.

Knowing that the lecture is so far, far gone and there's no hope of her returning, her head rests on the desk, unable to comprehend anything bar the fact that at some point in the next few hours he's going to ask to not take her to the shops to go _take care_ of Yuma and she's going to have to pretend that none of what she read happened, and she's not sure if she can.

* * *

Later in the day, Ryouga slouches along the wall beside her, slipping out an easy _Hey Yuma's sick and he needs me to babysit him _and it takes every part of her to not squeak out a desperate _it's okay I already organized something with Kotori_! But she messes it up too much and disappears around the corner, curious eyes following her the entire time.


	2. Tickle Fights

Walking home with Yuma wasn't nearly as bad as Ryouga made it out to be.

Every day without fail now that Yuma had found they lived in the same direction; now that Rio was better and was coming to school, the weather had finally begun to soften in its unbearability and she complained that they didn't get enough exercise, Yuma was more than happy to drag him along until they reached the apartment where he lived before continuing on his way back to his own home.

By the time they'd reach the Kamishiro's apartment, it's always just Yuma and the twins, and Rio nods and swipes the keys from Ryouga playfully with an _I want to go inside you guys take too long to talk_ and she ducks inside the complex, leaving the two of them alone.

The two always end up the same, and today is no exception – Yuma doesn't even bother trying to be polite and props himself onto the brick fence, dropping his bag to the floor and stretching his arms wide in relaxation.

"What makes you think I'm going to stay out here and talk to you?" he asks, scowling as Yuma laughs, a chuckle mixed with a genuine happiness that answers Ryouga's question and more.

Yuma holds his hand to his mouth as his laughter softens to a giggle, calming himself as Ryouga plops onto the fence next to him. "Come on Shaaku, I have to tell you about what happened when I was at Kaito's the other day!"

He launches into his story despite Ryouga's _I don't care_, and he rolls his eyes and slouches against the fence as Yuma continues anyway. After a while he realizes he's no longer listening, and when Yuma pouts and grumbles _are you even listening?_ He realizes he's got a tiny smile dancing across his lips and he chuckles willingly to himself. Yuma raises an eyebrow but says nothing else, and a small part of Ryouga is grateful for that.

After a promise that _okay, okay I'll listen_ is broken for the fifth or sixth time, Yuma laughs and pushes at Ryouga's shoulder playfully, only to have to catch him by his arm before he falls from the back of the fence. Ryouga automatically scolds him – _you could have winded me you idiot!_ – but Yuma can't help but laugh and suddenly they're pushing at each other, hanging onto each other as best they can as they do their best to disentangle each other from themselves as they tried to force the other to fall from the small height.

Yuma instinctively laughs as Ryouga's hand brushes his sides, his voice drops to a beg as Ryouga smirks and trails his hands either side of him, a small part of his mind smirking and enjoying watching Yuma laugh as he tickles him, begging him _please Shaaku I'm so ticklish you know that please _and he stops, unaware of how close he was until he feels Yuma's still heavy breath against his lips.

"Shark…"

[_Now would be a really good time]_

_[Probably the best time you're ever going to get.]_

He goes to give in, to _finally_ let out what he's been holding on for what he feels has been lifetimes, and the "Yuma, I think-" falls from his lips when a large vibration shocks the two, forcing Ryouga to jump back to give Yuma room to pull his d-gazer from his pocket.

"Oh crap, is it that late already?" Yuma asks, grinning as he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "No wonder nee-chan is so mad at me! We do this every day huh, Shark?" he laughs as he jumps from the fence and grabs his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and giving a final wave to Ryouga. "See you tomorrow, Shark!"

Ryouga nods, waving his hand nonchalantly as he watches him leave, biting his lip and rolling his eyes as he slumps against the wall for a second time.

[he sits there and contemplates just how _close_ he'd been until the sun darkens in the sky and Rio drops next to him, holds his shoulder and says _maybe next time, ani_ and yeah, she's right and there's always another day.]

[Always.]


	3. Snapchat

Studying has always been something that simply just comes to Ryouga. He's never been one for heaps of friends, and the friends that he did end up making were polite and introverted enough to not need his attention every second of the day so he was more than able to get all the study he needs done.

That is, except for one.

He's not even sure why he downloaded the stupid app in the first place; Yuma had found it through a friend and _insisted_ every one of his friends get it because it was _so fun_ – Ryouga didn't see how it was fun at all. Take a stupid picture, attach a caption and send it to the person so that they could look at it for three seconds before it was deleted forever; Ryouga thought the idea was absolutely _stupid_ and refused to download the app.

That is, until Rio made an offhand comment about being able to check up on each other without actually having to video call each other – _look, this way you can see that I'm okay without actually having to waste time_ – and he wishes he'd thought of something like that before, but begrudgingly downloads the app.

Yuma finds out immediately and before Ryouga can think twice about accepting his friend, thinking _ah well he's got lots of friends, he won't annoy me all too often_; he's done it and the beginning of his spiral into madness has begun.

A beeping resonates through his earphones, causing him to groan and pull his phone from his pocket to check the inevitable message from him; only Yuma and Rio actually contact him frequently, sometimes with the odd message or call from Kaito or missed calls from IV that go straight to voicemail. He stares at the snapchat notification for a few seconds before sighing and opening the app. He spots the little red notification next to Yuma's stupid username, sighing again as he holds the name down to open up the file.

An image of Yuma's face pops up, his face practically dripping from excitement as he holds a deck in one hand, accompanied with the message 'I'm bored lets duel!" Ryouga rolls his eyes and lets the message time out, dropping his phone onto the desk and returning his attention to the book in front of him.

A small part of him chastises himself for not turning the phone off, but the music he's listening to is pouring from the device so he's accidentally caught himself between a rock and a hard place, and it's not even five minutes before the phone vibrates viciously, shaking the whole table and gaining Ryouga's attention.

He groans, opening the message, giving a tiny smile at Yuma's pouty face comes up on the screen. He rolls his eyes, dropping the phone to the table again and running his hands through his hair before turning back to the book. He stares at the book, his eyes scanning but not reading anything he sees. He's distracted enough that he knows now that he's not going to get any work done, but that doesn't mean that he's going to give in to Yuma.

The phone vibrates a third time and he doesn't even bother checking to see the message before sliding into the camera section, giving his best scowl as he holds the phone at arm's length, taking the picture and bringing it back within his eye's reach. He types in a small message – _leave me alone I am studying_ – before sending it and slumping against the chair. He only has to wait a second before a reply, an exaggerated frown washing over his face, _is that a no?_ and Ryouga runs his hands down his face, grabbing his deck from his desk and getting to his face, sending the photo of himself with a scowl and _don't you dare cry when you lose!_ before removing himself from the seat and making his way to the door, his thoughts running a constant stream of _how could someone so cute be so god damn annoying?_


End file.
